Schwab Foundation & WEF award Ashraf Patel as a Social Innovator 2022

Team L&M

Ashraf Patel, Co-Founder of Pravah and ComMutiny – The Youth Collective (CYC), bagged the Social Innovator of the Year award 2022. She is the only Indian, and one among the 15 awarded across the world for social innovation by Schwab Foundation and World Economic Forum. Patel has been recognised for three decades of investment in building the youth development sector in India.

Ashraf has been recognised as a flag bearer, pioneering youth work and giving youth development a language in India. Over the last 29 years her work in Pravah and ComMutiny has been to advocate for a psycho-social approach to youth development; investing in young people not just to impact society but also to transform mindsets and attitudes. This change in lens to development has been instrumental in creating sustainable impact on issues ranging from social inclusion, active citizenship, youth leadership to gender-based violence, patriarchy and 21st century skill building.

“The Social Innovators of the Year 2022 represent a new ecosystem of leaders who are driving change and shifting organizations and systems towards a more just, inclusive, sustainable future,” said Hilde Schwab, Co-Founder and Chairperson of the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship.

Commenting on the recognition, Patel said, “This award is a celebration of youth leadership. It recognises the need to invest in collaboratives and ecosystems that not only impact society at scale but also transform the inner being of each young person they engage with. Young people are not leaders of tomorrow, but are leaders of today and investing in them must happen now.”